Maryland Democrats will spend $10 million in the primary for CD-6. Here’s why

When you think of Maryland in politics, you probably associate it as blue as states could possibly be. That is exactly what Democrats want you to believe. But Maryland is like a lot of other blue states where cities can outvote more rural areas. That’s not to say that Maryland doesn’t have very liberal counties. Montgomery County and Prince George County are the two counties surrounding DC. Both are very liberal because big government is good for business in these counties. Montgomery County is one of the America’s richest counties. The Democrats in Maryland have skillfully used these counties to gain and retain congressional seats.

Maryland is by far the most gerrymandered state in the entire country. For those that do not know, Maryland local governments and school systems operate by counties. Maryland is more rigid about counties than your average state. So it would make sense for a whole county to be in a district where possible. Montgomery County is connected to multiple districts including MD-6. District 6 was the longtime the seat of Roscoe Bartlett. In 2010, Governor Martin O’Malley gerrymandered Maryland even further targeting Bartlett’s seat. O’Malley redrew the district lines, removing conservative Carroll County and inserting Silver Spring, MD. In 2012, a referendum on these lines passed.

O’Malley’s grand scheme was successful but the battle to reverse his gerrymandering and that of his predecessors has been taken up by Republicans. Governor Larry Hogan needs to get reelected to redraw the districts. No doubt, District 6 will be the first to be redrawn. Incumbent John Delaney is not running for reelection to consider running for governor. So far, no strong candidates have entered the race to replace him. Andrew Duck, who failed to defeat Roscoe Bartlett multiple times, has announced his candidacy. The Democrats will likely favor the more serious option of Maryland House Delegate Majority Leader Bill Frick who has started fundraising and has a campaign website. Rich Democrat, David Trone spent $15 million losing the MD-8 primary may jump in this race. Then there’s also the possibility of Aruna Miller, a top state Democrat running as well. On the Republican side, the only official candidate is Matt Mossburg. While he as an interesting story of overcoming addiction, he doesn’t seem very inspiring for conservatives.

The consequences are high for Maryland Democrats in 2018. If Hogan loses, the seat will likely be theirs for a long time. But Larry Hogan is well-liked. He has a good chance of winning reelection. That is what makes this race interesting. If Hogan wins, he will redraw the district in 2020. If the Republicans hold the district, Hogan won’t have to flex as much political muscles to redraw the line. If the Democrats hold the seat, they will fight tooth and nail to retain their seat along with their other gerrymandered districts.

My prediction: Democrats will pour minimum $10 million into the primary with party boss Bill Frick or multimillionaire David Trone winning the nomination. I think another Republican will enter and win nomination only to lose in the general election. But I also believe Governor Hogan retains his office making for a very intense political battle to come with the un-gerrymandering of Maryland. The stakes are high which is why the state’s top Democrats are hovering over this race.

3 migrant caravan claims Jim Acosta made to President Trump that have been debunked… by the migrant caravans

CNN’s Jim Acosta has been at the center of the news cycle for 12 days. It’s not his reporting that landed him there. He’s the center of attention after the Secret Service suspended his hard pass to the White House. His pass is back and most seem to be moving on from the story. But something has been lost in the mix. The statements he made while badgering the President on November 7 were spoken with authority and certainty.

Less than two weeks later, all three of his claims have been proven wrong by the migrant caravans themselves.

“They’re hundred of miles away, though. They’re hundreds and hundreds of miles away.”

Around 3,000 migrants arrived in the last few days, doubling the total number of migrants waiting to be processed at the San Ysidro border crossing to 6000. Thousands more are expected in the coming days.

More than 500 criminals are traveling with the migrant caravan that’s massed on the other side of a San Diego border crossing, homeland security officials said Monday afternoon.

The revelation was made during a conference call with reporters, with officials asserting that “most of the caravan members are not women and children”. They claimed the group is mostly made up of single adult or teen males and that the women and children have been pushed to the front of the line in a bid to garner sympathetic media coverage.

By now, any thinking person regardless of political ideology should realize Jim Acosta is an idiot. In the short time he held the mic at the press conference, he made three debunked statements. Journalists are supposed to expose the truth, not spread lies.

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Fred Savage owns Deadpool in Once Upon a Deadpool trailer

I’ll admit, I didn’t even know this was a thing. When I heard about it, I assumed it was a spoof, probably put out by Ryan Reynolds to catch a few Christmas laughs. I was wrong.

Once Upon a Deadpool is a new edit of Deadpool 2 made with a PG-13 rating. Fox has been pushing for Reynolds to do a PG-13 version for over a decade, but the star has refused until now. He had two requirements. First, he Fox to donate money from the movie to a charity of Reynold’s choice. Which did he choose? A charity Fox is referring to as “Fudge Cancer,” though the charity’s real name would be better served in the R-rated version of Deadpool.

The second requirement is that Reynolds needed permission to kidnap Fred Savage.

Reynolds got both of his wishes and Once Upon a Deadpool was born. It’s due for a limited engagement next month.

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Legislators tell Allen West: Next version of First Step Act will cut loopholes

Last week, a handful of conservatives, including Lt. Col. Allen West and Conservative Review’s Daniel Horowitz, went after the bipartisan First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill that has the backing of the President and many conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Our complaint: why would the GOP support a bill that releases violent criminals and illegal immigrants?

According to legislative proponents of the bill, protections and benefits for both of these groups of felons have been eliminated in the next version of the bill that will reach the Senate floor. They reached out to West over the weekend to let them know they heard the concerns and are addressing them.

The First Step Act is supported by many conservatives and law enforcement groups, including the Fraternal Order of Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National District Attorneys Association. There are other proposals offered by those on the far left under the same banner of “criminal justice reform” that would release people from prison without regard to the danger they pose, including illegal immigrants and serious violent offenders. We must remember that there are some folks who are, well, as the ol’ folks would say, “just bad.” Additionally, some left-wing professors even propose abolishing all prisons partly based on their notion that the system is racist in nature. Hmm, I tend to believe that skin color or race has nothing to do with a person deciding to break the law. I just do not want us to go down the path of having criminals believe that there are no consequences, ramifications, for their actions and behaviors.

The legislators echoed our concerns and said the version that is currently available doesn’t reflect the changes that cut the loopholes. They say it will be impossible for these two groups – serious violent offenders and criminal illegal immigrants – to get the benefits of the bill. Many felons will be released early. Future felons will be given lighter sentences. That makes sense for many, but by no means should anyone in either of the two most dangerous groups receive sentence reductions, according to the letter to West.

My Take

Call me cynical, but lately I’ve changed my general rules regarding promises of politicians. It used to echo President Reagan’s stance on nuclear disarmament: “Trust but verify.” I now have to go with a more adversarial stance on political promises: “Show me proof, then we’ll talk.”

When the legislation is made available to the public, many will take a close look at it. I’ll personally be checking to see if there are any loopholes that would put violent offenders or criminal illegal immigrants back on the street sooner. If so, it’s a no-go for me.